Golf-ball and method of making the same



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W. PEARCE. GOLF BALL AND METHOD 0F MAKING TH APPLICATION FILED ocT. 24. 1919.

E SAME.

l Patented Feb. 1, 1921.

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ineens, i Application tiled tlctoher ttt, tutti. i Serial No. 332,928.

tory form and method product. i

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GOLF-3Min' AND METHUD 02E MAKING THE SAME.

To all whom it may concern: Be it lrhown that l, WILLIAM citizen of the United States, residin" ron, in the county of Summit and Pennen, a

at Alrtate of tlhid have invented a certain new and useful Golf-Ball and-Method of ll/lalzing the flame, of which the following is a specifiy cation.

This invention relates'to the construction of golf balls havingl a liquid or similar highly-mobile .core surrounded by resilient material 'such as a tense rubber which is furnished with the usualtough cover of gutta-percha, balata, or thelilre; and its object is toprovide a more satisfacof inclosure than has heretofore been lrnownlforthe liquid in the center, whereby certain desirable results are secured in the way of advantages in manufacture as well as increased length of flight,

uniformity and durability of the ball.,

@fthe accompanying drawings:

- lFigure'l is a vertical sectional view of apand materials illustrating the method of forming the liquid-containing inner envelop of -my improved golf-ball core. i' lflig., 2 is a section of the productof said method.

paratus lFig. 3 is a view in vertical-section and elevation showing themode of providing the core with an outer-envelop. I

llig. l is an elevation of the second Fig., a sectional view of a .vulcaniaing moldwith cores therein,l

big, 6 is a view4 in-section and elevation showing the completed ball.

lt has been found that a highly-mobile core combined with an envelop Vof rubber tape or thread wound gives a relatively 'long-yingsball, and the higher' the tension' of thel winding and the greater the mobilityof the will be the flight. Also, a relatively-small and heavy ball nies farther than a larger and lighter one. Liquid cores have the greatest mobility and it is common to weight the liquid with a heavy substance such as orrid of zinc. ln order to hold this substance uniformly in suspension a thick, viscous or oily liquid such as castor oil, glycerin or the like is employed. l3nt it has heretofore provenfdiiiicult to inclose this liquid in a flexible envelop of such nature that none will escape into the rubber wind speerneaadaor teneri raient.

winding y first of the'rubber winding shall be applied circumferential seam 12 'which pressingtogether the edges of said segments under high tension i core the longer i .Patented Feb. r, 159er.

` method has been to inclose the liquid in a small vulcanized rubber bag and tie the neclr of this bag, two of these bags, one within the other and with their neclrs opposite, being often resorted to in the effort to retain the liquidwbut without complete sucoess.` The tying of the bag or bags maires an`objectionable bunch on one or two sides, and further- I more, the use of such a core requires that the Y by hand, for which operation it is difficultL to secure and retain the necessary slrilled help. Vl`hese several objections are overcome by my present invention.

Referring to the drawings, which show a "lll preferred mode of practising the invention, t

l() is an envelop containing a liquid ll such, for example, as castor oil weighted with zinc oXid or other finely-divided heavy solid.

rll`his envelop is preferably made lin hemi! spherical segments, as shown, united in a is formed by while the material of which they are composed is in a slightly-plastic condition. Such material is preferably gelatin, which is tough, substantially impervious to the oil,

and well adapted to form a seam-protective lining for the outer core-envelop. ln compounding the gelatin, 'it is preferably mired with glycerin as commonly practised in the manufacture of highly-Hermle drug capsules, in order to insure a proper degree of fleribility' in the envelop.

li ing Jghe-liquid-filled gelatin envelop. `Two flat plates 13,14 f" gelatin heated to thenceessary degree of semi-plasticity land containing between them enough of the liquid 1l tosupply the core filling are located betweenv a lower die-member l5 and an kupper pressing plate 16, both of which are surrounded byl a sleeve ll', said die-member having a central bore f8. 19 is an upper die member sliding in an aperture in the plate 16 and provided with a central bore 20.

To form the core member or capsulemplate te is pressed down upon the lower die meme ber to bring the margins of the gelatin plates together and mass the liquid inwardly toward the center, then the upper die meinber'is pressed downwardly upon the lower l illustrates a suitable mode of form-` dll ldd

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one to pinch o" the two halves of the envelop and press their edges together to form the seam, the apertures 18, 20 permitting the capsule to bulge upwardly and downwardly into the dies, after which the product is removed and assumes the form shown in Fig. 2.

The next step is to apply a rubber outer envelop 21 which is also composed of hemispherical segments united by a circumferential seam 22 as indicated in Fig. 4.* To do this, the core member provided with the gelatin cover 10 is placed with its seam 12 crosswise as shown in Fig. 3,- between sheets or plates 23 of vulcanizable raw rubber, and the excess is pinched off between die members 24, 25 having hemispherical cavities 26, 27, thereby forming the seam22.

In many cases it will be desirable to com- -pound this rubber stock with a weighting material such as finely-divided metallic lead in order to avoid mixing the lead with the liquid 11 from which it tends to settle unevenly and in which it also tends to form with the zinc oxid a substance which stilens after a time. A number of such cores with the raw rubber envelops thereon are then located -in the cavities of a vulcanizing mold 28 and subjected to heat and pressure until the rubber is vulcanized both in the walls and the seams. The heat melts'the elatin on the inside, but the latter is ena led to act as a lining 10a, shown in Fig. 6, which protects the seam in the rubber envelop from the entrance of oil which would tend to spoil said seam.

The gelatin and'rubber envelops 10, 21.

may each be about one-sixteenth of an inch thick. This construction aiords a core envelop of ample flexibility but of such firmness that the first winding of rubber tape may be applied directly to the core in the winding machine without having to resort to the usual preliminary hand-winding. In Figs. 6, 29, 30 andA 31 are the usual tense windings of rubber, of which 29 is a first winding of wide tape, 30 is the principal windingof narrower tape and 31 is the outer winding of thread to increase the adhesion of the cover; all of which windings, including the first one, may be applied by suitable winding machinery. 32 is the usual tough cover composed of any suitable material Such as balata, gutta percha, rubber or mixtures of two or more of these substances. The ball structure without the cover is commonly known as the center and the inner ball to which the tense rubber winding is applied is the core.

My improved core, being of a lirm-walled but highly-mobile character, is well adapted to the useof high tensions in the rubber winding so as to obtain a greater factor of elasticity and increased length of flight without producing a hard ball or one which will readily cut through the cover, the walls of the ball in this case retaining in a large degree their local deformability. Permanent uniformity of distribution of material in the core and absence of early deterioration through the escape of liquid into the windings are among the benefits which I obtain, and added to this is the very great manufacturing advantage obtained by dispensing with the necessity for a preliminary hand winding of wide rubber tape upon the core envelop.

I claim:

l. A golf-ball core comprising an oily liquid inclosed in an oil-proof envelop composed of segments united by a circumferential seam.

2. A golf-ball core comprising a weighted, oily liquid inclosed in an oil-proof envelop composed of segments united by a circumferential seam.

3. A golf-ball core'comprising a finely-divided, solid, weighting substance suspended in an oil, andv an oil-proof envelop therefor composed of segments united by a circumferential seam.

1. A golf-ball core comprising a gelatin envelop inclosing a liquid.

5. A golf-ball core comprising a gelatin envelop inclosing an oily liquid.

6. A golf-ball. core comprising a gelatin envelop inclosing an oil in which is suspended a finely-divided, solid, weighting substance.

7. A golf-ball core comprising a gelatin envelop inclosing an oil weighted with oxid of zin'c.

8. A golf-ball core comprising an envelop composed of hemispheres of gelatin united by a circumferential butt seam, and an oil containing suspended, finely-divided weighting material inclosed therein.

9. A golf-ball core comprising a seamed rubber envelop containing a seam-protective lining and a liquid.

l0. A golf-ball core comprising a seamed rubber envelop lined with gelatin and containin a liquid.

l1. golf-ball core comprising a seamed, vulcanized rubber envelop containing an oil in which is suspended finely-divided weighting matter.

12. A golf-ball core comprising a hollow ball composed of vulcanized rubber segments unlted by a vulcanized seam, and an oily liquid contained therein.

13. A golf-ball core comprising a hollow ball composed of vulcanized rubber hemispheres united by a circumferential seam, a seam-protective lining therefor, and a weighted liquid contained therein.

14. A golf-ball core comprising a liquid, a gelatin envelop therefor, and a rubber envelop inclosin said gelatin envelop.

15. A golfall core comprising an en- A seam-protective lining therefor,

velep composed el hemspheres of rubber vulcanized together, a gelatin lining therein, and an oily liquid therein containing finelydivided, suspended weighting material.

16. A goil-ball core comprising a segmental, seamed, hollow ball having walls composed of weighted vulcanized rubber, a and a liquid contained therein.

17. A golf-ball core comprising a segmental, seamed, hollow7 ball having walls composed of vulcanized rubber weighted with inely-divided metallic lead, a seamprotective lining therein, and an oily liquid therein containing Zinc oXid in suspension.

18. il goltball comprising a seamed rubber envelop having a seam-protective lining and containing a liquid, a tense rubber winding thereon, and a tough cover inclosing said winding.

19. A golf-ball comprising a seamed, vul- 'canized rubber envelop having a gelatinlining and containing y a weighted, oilyliquid, a tense rubber winding thereon, and a tough cover inclosing said winding.

20,. A goltball comprising a vulcanized rubber envelop composed of hemispheres united by a circumferential seam, a gelatin lining therein, a weighted liquid therein, a tense rubber winding thereon, and a tough cover inclosing said winding.

21. A golf-ball comprising an envelop composed of vulcanized rubber hemispheres containing weighted material and united by a circumferential seam, a gelatin lining therein, a liquid therein containing weight ing material in suspension, a tense rubber winding thereon, and a tough cover sur vrounding said winding.

Q2. The method of making golf-ball cores which comprises inclosing a liquid within the parts'ot a segmental inner envelop, uniting the segments of saidenvelop in a seam, inclosin said inner envelop with the segments ot an outer envelop, and uniting said outer segments with a seam.

9,3. The method oi' making golf-ball cores which comprises inclosing an oily liquid in an oil-proof inner envelop, inclosing ysaid inner envelop between rubber segments and betweenthe segments of a gelatin envelop to form a core, uniting said segments, provid ing a tense rubber winding around said core, and providing a cover around said winding.

26. rlhe method ol making golf-ball cores which comprises inclosing a body ci liquid between gelatin plates, messing the liquid inwardly toward a center by compression on the margins of the plates, cutting out segments from said plates and unitin their edzges in a liquid-illed envelop by urther compression, and covering said envelop with a liquid-tight outer rubber envelop.

27. The method of malring golf-ball centers which comprises inclosing an oily liquid in a gelatin innerenvelop, inclosing said inner envelop in a liquidt1ght, seamed, s egmental, rubber outer envelop, and applyinga tense rubberwinding on said outer envelop.

28. 'lhe method of making golic balls which comprises inclosing an oily liquid in a gelatin inner envelop, vulcanizing thereon a liquid-tight, rubber outer envelop, applying a tense rubber winding to said outer envelop, and providing a tough cover on said winding.

ln witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand this 16th day of 0ctober, 1919.

WILLIAM runnen. 

